Sun-Toi

I have been driving a bus for the past ten years in a major city. It was late on a Monday night that my story begins. I had just started the last hour of my shift when I picked up a young woman who looked about eighteen years old. She was Asian with a small, well-proportioned body and long black hair that was braided into a pony tail that fell down to the middle of her back. The woman was carrying two suitcases and a handbag. When she boarded she sat close to the front of the bus and we soon fell into conversation.

Her name was Sun Toi and she had just left her cousin’s house where she had been staying for the past year since she had arrived in the country. Sun Toi said she moved out because her cousin had made a pass at her and stole her savings. We talked for about thirty minutes about topics ranging from the environment to her homeland in China. As the time passed the other passengers exited the bus until we were the only two left.

We continued our discussion as I told her about myself. My wife, Jill, had left me a year ago. I had not told anyone else the real reason why, but for some odd reason I felt a personal connection with Sun Toi, so I told her. Ever since we first became married I had wanted kids, but my wife had a career and did not want to right away. I had told Jill that we could wait if she really wanted. I felt it would be fair thing to do, since she was the one that would have to leave work for at least three months when she had the baby. In addition, I had agreed to quit my job for a year or two to stay home and take care of our child. In preparation for this event I went to the library and checked out several books on caring for infants and began studying them.

Several years passed, but each time I mentioned the idea of having a baby, Jill would either change the subject or say we can wait longer. Finally, about two years ago, I confronted her with an ultimatum; either we have a child now or never. Jill just looked me in the eyes and said it would have to be never. That night I packed my bags and walked out. The next day, I quit my well-paying job, went to the bank and took out half our savings and moved to a different city. I soon found the job as a bus driver.

Sun Toi had listened to my story with interest. When it was over she said that in her home country a wife would have never ignored her husband’s wishes like my wife did.

It was then eleven at night and I was just about to head the bus to the garage. Sun Toi asked me to let her off at the last stop and I did. I drove the bus to the garage, clocked out, got my car and headed for home as it started raining. The route I took went right past the last bus stop. There I saw Sun Toi sitting on her suitcases, waiting for a bus. I stopped the car and told her that there were no more buses for the night. She said that it did not matter because she had no place to go anyway. I don’t normally make it a habit to pick up strangers in my car, but she looked so pitiful sitting in that downpour that I told her to get in.

I asked her if she had any money and she said no. So I pulled up to the front of a nearby motel and took fifty bucks out of my wallet and told her to get a room for the night. Sun Toi acted like I was trying to give her poison. She said she would never take charity from anyone. I told her to consider it a loan, but she still refused. I didn’t want to leave her in the rain, so I drove to my house. After we came into the living room we both felt rather embarrassed. I said she really should put on something dry. I went to the bedroom and brought back a pair of my pajamas. She went to the bathroom to change and I went to fix some dinner.

It was while we were eating my leftover lasagne that we lost our shyness and began talking like we had on the bus. Pretty soon our conservation became rather silly, like they tend to do late into the evening. We talked about what we would do if we had a million dollars and what our most embarrassing moments were. For me it happened when I was in high school giving a class presentation and noticed my fly was down after everybody started laughing.

For Sun Toi it happened when she was twelve years old back in China. Her parents lived in a rural area, but she and her two older sisters were able to go to school because they all did well on their entrance exams. One day, while in class, the girl who sat behind her yelled out that there was something crawling on Sun Toi’s head. The teacher called her up to the front of the class and examined her. It turned out that she had lice. In addition, her two sisters had it too. The teacher gave her a note to take home to her mother. The note said something had to be done or they would not be allowed back into school.

When Sun Toi’s mother read the note she told her three girls to go out to the front yard. Soon, her mother came outside carrying a chair and a basin full of hot water. She told one of Sun Toi’s two sisters to sit in the chair. The front of the house faced a square that served as the front yard for several other houses. Soon a crowd of neighborhood children gathered around the family. As her sister sat in the chair, water from the basin was poured onto her head by her mother. Then, as Sun Toi and her other sister watched in horror, her mother took a straight razor out of the basin. She then placed the razor on her sister’s forehead and started scraping hair from her head. As more and more white scalp was exposed, the watching crowd began to laugh at the poor girl’s plight. They called her names such as baldylocks and shinyhead. After a few minutes, Sun Toi’s sister’s head was as bald as a melon. Her sister jumped up out of the chair, crying, and ran back into their house while children rubbed her head, laughing.

It was then that Sun Toi and her sister realized that it was their turn. Their mother called her sister, but before she could sit down, Sun Toi rushed up and sat in the chair. She was not sure why she did this, unless it was to avoid putting off the inevitable. As she sat in the chair, the crowd, which had gotten bigger, was now primed for action. They jeered and made fun of Sun Toi without mercy as her mother poured the warm water over her head. Sun Toi became aware that the water caused her flimsy dress to become transparent, clinging to her budding breasts. This caused her cheeks to flush even red with embarrassment.

Just as she had done with her sister, Sun Toi’s mother put the razor blade to her forehead. As the blade pulled across her scalp, she felt the skin become cool as the hair was removed. As more and more hair was removed, the children’s jeers raised a deafening noise. Soon Sun Toi was as bald as her sister. When she got up out of the chair, the children ran up to her and started rubbing her shiny head. Sun Toi stayed to watch her other sister have her hair removed and when it was finished she ran up and hugged her.

They thought that their trauma was over until Sun Toi’s mother sat in the chair and poured the rest of the water in the basin over her own head. Then she told her daughters that she too had lice and needed treatment. Sun Toi picked up the razor and, in front of the whole village, proceeded to shave her mother’s head.

The next day, when Sun Toi and her sisters went back to school, they received the same kind of jeering they had at the village.

I sat and listened to Sun Toi’s story in rapture. I then told her that I thought that she seemed to have survived the experience well. She told me that having the other kids make fun of them forced her and her sisters to become much closer. In addition, Sun Toi said that her shaved head had actually felt kind of good at the time.

Then we talked about the biggest regrets we had in life. For Sun Toi, it was trusting her cousin. For me it was not having any children. A funny look came over Sun Toi’s face when I said that.

It was then about three in the morning and we were both getting sleepy. I put some covers on the couch and she slept there while I slept in the living room.

I awoke to the smell of scrambled eggs. Sun Toi, who had spent the night on the couch, had made us both breakfast. As we ate, she asked me if I remembered what I had said the night before about my biggest regret in life. I said sure, not having children of my own. It was then that an unusual look came over Sun Toi’s face. “Well,” she said, “we can do something about that.” This really took me by surprise. What kind of girl had I let stay in my house? I told her that I appreciated her thought, but I could not take advantage of her by having sex with her. Especially considering her vulnerable state. And I certainly was not ready to get married.

“No silly,” she said. “I have a more creative idea in mind.”

I told her I was listening.

What she then said took me completely by surprise: “I was up all night thinking about this. We really seem to get along very well. I think we can even live together without any problems. We both have definite needs. I have no money and need a place to stay for a while to put my life back together. You said that you have always wanted a child. This is my plan; you can pay me a small wage to live with you as your child.”

I told her she was crazy. “Parents don’t hire their children. Besides, you are too old to be my child. I have always wanted an infant to take care of, not some teenager.”

Sun Toi said this was no problem, she could make herself look like a baby and it would work out.

I told her to forget about it and left for work.

As I drove the bus that day I could not get Sun Toi out of my mind. She and I did have a real bond and I felt very protective of her, like a father to his daughter. As I drove home from my job, I thought, what the heck, it couldn’t hurt. But as I pulled into my driveway I realized what an insane idea it was and there was no way I would do it.

When I walked into the house, Sun Toi was gone and so were her bags. Oh well, I thought, some things are not meant to be. I went into the bedroom and sat on the bed. I then became aware that she had gone through my stuff. I looked in the box on my dresser and saw that she had taken one hundred dollars out of it. So, this was all a scam.

I then heard a noise in the front part of the house. When I walked into the living room, Sun Toi came bursting through the door. In her hands were several shopping bags. She then dumped the contents on the floor. There were brand-new baby clothes, diapers, baby powder, pacifiers, baby bottles, formula and a small box with no writing on it.

“What is all this?” I said.

“This is for me,” she replied.

I told her to take them back to the store.

“Too late,” she said. “I threw all my old clothes away.”

She had such a proud, expectant look on her face. Looking at her, all my reservations vanished. Sun Toi ran up and hugged me with such force that we both fell back on to the couch. I held her tight and kissed her on the forehead and on the cheek, just like a parent. We stayed there and giggled and talked for a couple of hours. Then a funny look came over her face. She said, in a shy voice, “I think your baby needs to be changed.” It was then I noticed a wet spot on the front of her dress. We both burst out laughing. I picked her up and laid her on the floor. She reached down to the hem of her dress and pulled it up over her head. Sun Toi was wearing only her panties.

“You have to do the rest,” she said.

I knelt down beside her. Hesitantly, I put my fingers under the waistband and pulled her shorts down her legs and over her feet. Her body was magnificent. The breasts were small but beautifully formed. She had only a tiny wisp of pubic hair around her genitalia. I looked up and noticed she had a very serious expression on her face. She then said, “You better put the diaper on.”

I went to the bathroom and wet a washcloth. When I came back I took the washcloth and cleaned the pee from her stomach. Then, lifting both legs with one hand, I rubbed her buttocks with the washcloth. I then fastened a diaper on her.

“I’m cold,” she said, while looking at the baby clothes.

They were large size baby clothes and fortunately, Sun Toi’s petit size made them a perfect match. I put a pink, frilly shirt on her and laid her on the couch.

I took care of Sun Toi like this for several days, changing, bathing and feeding her. One day, when I came home from work, she was sitting out on the porch. This was unusual, because she rarely went outside.

“I don’t think I am keeping up my end of the bargain,” she said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I said that I would act and look like a baby for you, but I don’t feel like I have been an honest employee.”

She was not being fair to herself, I thought. I had noticed in the past week that the formula I had been feeding her had caused her to put on a little baby fat. With her small size and her baby clothes she really did look like an infant.

“There is just one more thing you can do to complete my look,” she said.

Sun Toi then reached down to the porch and opened up the box she had brought home the week before and pulled out a pair of electric hair clippers.

“You don’t have to do this,” I said.

As if in answer to my statement, she turned on the clippers, put the blade to her head and mowed a white path down the center. She then handed them to me with that same determined look on her face that I have learned to not ignore. Taking the clippers I moved to the back of her head and sheared off her pony tail. Then I continued the job by shaving her entire head.

After I finished, she reached up to hrt head and rubbed it.

“Good,” she said, “but not good enough.” She then reached over behind a planter and pulled out a basin of warm water and poured it on her head. I could not help but burst out laughing at her wet puppy-dog look. She then took a safety razor out of the basin, handed it to me and told me to finish the job. I proceeded to shave her head nice and smooth.

“I have one more surprise for you,” she said. She then went in the house and came out pushing a large baby stroller.

“You have spent more of my money without my permission,” I said. “For this relationship to work I must be in complete control.”

Hearing my tone of voice, Sun Toi looked at me and said, “You are not going to spank me are you?”

“Yes,” I declared. I then put her up on my lap, face down and pulled down her diaper. Using the palm of my hand, I smacked her bare bottom several times until she started crying and giggling at the same time.

I felt bad about her spanking, so I made it up to her by taking her for a walk in her new stroller. All the neighbors I met complemented me on what a cute, bald headed baby I had. Then Sun Toi and I laughed when I told them she was adopted.